Combination-switc x



L. KOVACS.

COMBINATION SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED 521. 191s.

Patented July 15, 1919.

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f 5 wg L. KDVACS. COMBINATION SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED JAN.2I. 191a.

Patented-July 15, 1919.

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LoUIs Kova'cs, or c'moaeo, rumors.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUIS KovAcs, citizen of Austria-Hungary, residing at Chicago,

the county of Cook and State of Illinois,

have invented certain new and useful Imrovements in Combination-Switches; and

I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, sucl ill enable others 'sl? 'll is the art tow i it appertains tom use the same.

In its general aspects, my invention relates to combination switches; that is to say, switches in which the circuit is controlled at a number of different points and in which the switching members for making the connections at all of these different points must be in their proper positions to jointly close the circuit. In some of its '20 more particular aspects, my invention relates to combination or secret switch having several switching members arranged sothat "their respective positions will be indicated on exposed dials without indicating whether 01 not these switching members are in position for closing their particular portions of the circuits to provide an unusually simple and effective construction of such a switch which will 1 enable the same to be Q manufactured and assembled cheaply, and which will readily permit the switches to be' assembledaccording to a wide range of different dial indications or combinations without requiring alterations in the manufactured parts. A

' In another aspect of my invention, it aims to provide a novel type of secret switching means which may be desirably connected in'series with the dial-indicated switching 4o portions of a combination switch, which will beeas ily manufactured and assembled, and

which:- will be operable by a sliding contact-without uncertainty and while continuously-concealing its mechanism from view.

Still other and to some extent more detailed objects will appear from the following speclfication and from the accompanying drawings, which drawings show my invention as embodied in a switch adaptedto be fastened to the dash-board of an automobile for controlling the'ignition circuit.

i In the; drawings, Figure 1 of this embodiment.

2 is an axial section throughthe same,

is an elevation. I p p A portion fitting. an .aperture'in a longer concoMBINaTroN-swrrc v Specification of Letters'Patent. P t t d July 15, 1919. Application filed January 21, 1918, Serial 212,930. I

ug the line 2--f: i of Fig. 1 and also including in diagrammatic form the battery and spark plug connections for such a switch.

Fig. 3'is a transverse section through the switch, taken along the zigzag line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary and enlarged section through one pair of the contacts forming part of the switching mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a tranverse section taken through Fig. 2- along the line 55.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section through a part of Fig. 5 along the line 6-6. I

Fig. 7 is a partially diagrammatic longitudinalsection through another embodiment of my switch, showing an alternative arrangement of the rotatable switch blades, numerous parts of the switching being omitted to simplify the drawing.

Fig. 8 is a section similar to a portion of Fig. 6 and showing another arrangement of the wire terminals.

One important part of my switch 18 that relating to the independently rotatable switching arms and the circuit portions controlled thereby. In the embodiment of Figs. 1, 2 and 4, the casing l of this switch and the base 2 mounted in this switch -jointly form bearings for a shaft, which shaft gradually decreases in. diameter from a head 3 at its outer end to a stem 4 pivoted in the base 2 and locked to the latter in any suitable means, such as a washer 5 pinned to this stem. Adjacent to the stem 4, the shaft of the switch has a square portion 6 fitting a corresponding portion in an insulator' 7 which has at one end a somewhat larger square portion interlocking with a square opening in a switching blade 8. Near its head end, the said shaft has a still larger square shaft 9 fitting a corresponding opening in a pointer member 10 which .moves over a graduated dial 11 and thus washer-12 and an externallysquare tube 13. This latter tube'fits the angular bore of an insulating bushing 14; which has a square tact member 15., while the, square exterior maul of the tube 13 fits the aperture of a longer pointer member 16, which pointer moves over a larger dial 17 and thereby gives-an indication of the position of the contact member 15.

Each of the said contact members has a tip portion bearing resiliently against the inner, surface of the base2, and each of these contact members is adapted at some Point in its rotational movement to aiford the connection between two relatively spacedcontacts which are connected to portions of the circuit controlled by the switch. These contacts may desirably be in the form of hollow screws 17 and 18 as shown in Fig. 4, each. i

of which screws has its head embedded substantially flush with the inner surface of the "base 2 and has atip of one .of the circuit wires soldered into its bore. lVith this arrangement, it will beobv1ous from the drawing that the contact portion of my switch can be very cheaply constructed and that with a given boring of the holes into which the screws 17 and 18 are threaded, and a; given mounting of these on the shaft, four different dial indications can be secured for each contact member by successively shifting the pointer members a quarter turnwith respect to the square-sectioned portions with which the latter are interlocked. Likewise, each o-f-the contact members can be placed in four rotationally different positions with respect to the square bushing portions with which it is interlocked, so that I can obtain a large number of different combinations without altering the position of the pairs of contact screws with respect to the cover on which the dials are'engraved or mounted. Then- I can further increase this range of combinations by fastening the base 2 in a series of rotationally difi'erent positions within the casing. For this purpose Ineed only provide'the base 2 with a series of notches 19 one of 'which'is entered by a screw 20 extending through a side of the casing, it being'obvious from'F-ig. 3 that by turning the base 2 to bring one after another of the notches 19 opposite the screw 20 I correspondingly 'varythe dial indications for their. given position for the contact members with respect to the base 2.

However, even with the large number of possible combinatiol'lsjthus secured by my construction, it might be possible for a stranger to find the combination by .a systematic series of manipulations. That is to say, he might set the longer pointer sue-- In this manner, he would nipu'lations which have spoiled the intended safeguarding feature of combinationswitchesas heretofore devised for protecting automobiles. To prevent such an occurrence, I preferalbly provide an auxiliary switch portion connected in series with both of .the pairs of contact screws and also'arranged with markings which indicate, the

needed position of this part of the switch. 7

Such auxiliary portion is desirably mounted also within the casing of the switchand desirably built .in the shape of a slide. For example,.f.he tip of the series 22 and 23 may be disposed in grooves extending parallel to the shaft of the switch and notched into the concentric channel walls of-an insulator 24: fastened in any suitable means to the casing 2 near its closed end. The said channel forms a raceway for a metal collar 25 mounted on an insulator 26, which insulator may be moved by means of a handle 27 extending through a relatively narrow slot 28 in the closed or cover end of the casing. With the wire tips- 22 and 23 disposed substantially flush wit-h the inner walls of the said raceway, it will be obvious from Figs. 5 and 6 that the metal collar 25-'will electrically connect these wires only when this collar is in a certain position, which position can be seen from auxiliary 'dial markings 29 on the surfa'ce'o-f the casing.

To prevent the position of the wires 22 Y and 23 from being seen through the'slot 29, I provide a grooved strip 30 which is mount-- ed on the handle 27 and disposed inside the cover portion of the casing, and which is considerably longer than the slot 28, so as to continuously close the latter to the observer. Thus constructed, this slide portion initself forms a switch with concealed contacts, and while it might be possible to also position the handle 27 successively opposite eachof the markings on the dial 29 and to try out all of the possible positions of the pointers 10 and 16 for each of these dial indications 29, it will be obvious that any such eflort'would require an amount of time not available under an ordlnary circumstances. Consequently, y this simple and 115 baiiling addition to a twodial combination sw tch, I can produce an appliance which W111 far more effectively safeguard a'given circuit than has heretofore been possible.

In using a switchof my invention, I-g'desirably 'connect the various pairs of contact portions (namely both pairs of the contact screws l7 and 18 as well as the tips of the wires 22 and 23) in series with each other. For example,'Fig. 2 shows such'connections as controlling the circuit from a battery 31 to a spark plug 32. However, I do not Wishto be limited to these particular connections or particular uses of my invention, nor to the var ous details of-the construction and arrangement here described, it being obvious that the same might be modified in many screws 82 and 34 having reduced shanks ex- 'tendin r flush with the inner surfaces-of the channel-sectioned insulating body 24,.as in Fig. 8-. I

I claim as my invention:

1. A secret switch including contact-malt ing members rotatable about a common aXis, and means for supporting and rotating the said contact members; said means comprising a pair of insulating'washers each inter-- locked with one of the contact members, a spacer washer disposed between the aforesaid washers and serving to clamp the said contact members to the washers to which they are respectively interlocked, a tubular shaft having an 'angula'rly sectioned exterior interlocked with one of the first named washers, a second shaft extending through the tubular shaft and all three of the washers and having an angularly sectioned portion inte'rlocked'with the other of the first named washers; stationary contacts disposed for contacting respectively with the said contact members when the latter are in predetermined positions-and means connected respectively to the two shafts for indicating the positions of the said contact members.

2. Switch construction as per claim 1, in

which the contact members are adapted to be secured in anumber of difierent positions with respect to the axis of the shaft, thereby changing the relative position of these con-' tact members with respect to the indicating means.

3. Switching mechanism as per claim 1, in hich both the contact members and portions of the indicating means are each adapt? ed 'te be secured to the shaft portions with :whlch'they are associated in a plurality of dillerent positicns, thereby effectively changing the indications afiorded by the indicating means. v

4. Switch mechanism .as per claim 1, in

which the means for securing the contact members and indicating means to the shaft portions with which they are associrtedinelude polygonal bores in certain of the said members and male portions on other members interlocked with the said bores, and in which the bore associated with each contact member is twisted with respect to the bore of the indicating means associated with the same contact member, so that the flattened surfaces of the said bores are angularly out of alinement.

5. In a secret switch, a substantially cup-v I shaped caslng, an insulating base disposed therein and rotatable with respect to the casing and having a plurality of notches on its periphery; a plurality of wire terminals mountedven the insulating base and disposed in pairs arranged substantially radially of the common axis of the base ofthe casing; relatively insulated contact blades arranged for contacting respectively with the said pairs of wire terminals; rotating and indicatmg means associated respectively with the contact blades and arranged for affording indications upon the exterior of the casing, and means for interlocking a lateral portion of the casing with any one of the notches in' the insulating base; thereby permitting the insulating base to be fixed in any one of several angular positions with respect to the casing. I Signed at chicagq'Illmois, January 12th, 1918.

DOUIS -KOVACS. 

